David Swanson, War Is A Crime, June 12, 2012 A magazine asked me this morning for my thoughts on Iraq and the peace movement. What did this war produce? I replied: Over a million human beings killed plus extensive structural and cultural damage amounting to sociocide, which we could have prevented and didn't, which we could regret and make reparations for but instead are largely uninformed about. A lesson taught to other nations that nuclear weapons are needed to prevent a US invasion, a lesson also taught by the assault on Libya. A lesson taught to other nations that might makes right and aggressive killing and torture are to be used when one can get away with it. ... The

Executive privilege has seduced the president into a reckless 'kill first, ask questions later' policy that explodes the US constitution. Michael Boyle, Guardian, June 11, 2012 In his first campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama promised to reverse the worst excesses of the Bush administration's approach to terrorism – such as the use of torture, the rendition of terrorist suspects to CIA-run black sites around the globe, and the denial of basic legal rights to prisoners in Guantánamo – and to develop a counterterrorism policy that was consistent with the legal and moral tradition of the United States. ... Obama

David Swanson, War Is A Crime, June 11, 2012 Miko Peled has written a perfect book for people, including Israelis, who have always heard that the Israeli government can do no wrong. The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine is partly an account of the author's father's life. His father, Matti Peled, was an Israeli general, war hero, military governor of the Gaza strip, member of Parliament, professor and columnist who turned against the occupation of Palestine. Largely, however, the book is an account of Miko Peled's own life, and the evolution of his thinking about Israel. ... Israel

RT, June 4, 2012 Israel’s government has announced its plans to speed up the deportation of at least 25,000 African immigrants living illegally in the country. Human rights supporters have decried the move and branded the mass expulsion of migrants as “immoral.” A law also came into effect on Sunday allowing Israeli authorities to detain illegal immigrants for up to three years without trial or deportation. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement to his ministers urging them to accelerate plans to expel immigrants from South Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Ethiopia. ... Israel

Afghan Peace Volunteers, War Is A Crime, May 8, 2012 There is no US troop withdrawal in 2014. We are ordinary Afghans wishing for peace, and we have eyes and ears and feelings of love and despair, so please read on. The Washington Post, in reporting the recent signing of the "US Afghan Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement," stated that US trainers and Special Operations troops that remain beyond 2014 will live on Afghan bases.” US citizens should understand that there will not be a complete withdrawal of US troops in 2014, whether Obama or Romney wins. ... An

David Maddox, Scotsman, April 29, 2012 Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic has condemned the UK government’s economic policy as “immoral” for ignoring the poor and protecting “the very rich”. Cardinal Keith O’Brien made his attack just four days before Thursday’s Scottish council elections as he threw his weight behind the introduction of a “Robin Hood tax” on financial transactions. He joins a continuing clamour of anger over last month’s Budget which saw a 5 per cent income tax reduction for the wealthiest 1 per cent – those earning £150,000 or more – at the same time as a so-called “granny tax” on pensioners was introduced ... Cardinal

Bruce A. Dixon, Black Agenda Report, March 14, 2012 Thanks to relentless promotion by corporate media, government, celebrities and politicians of both corporate parties, along with right wing church groups and foundations, the Kony 2012 video has “gone viral.” Viewed on YouTube more than a hundred million times by now, it paints a vivid and simple picture, clear enough, its narrator says, for a five year old. But is it real, or is it propaganda, and for what purpose? Joseph Kony, the Invisible Children YouTube video tells us, is a bad guy in Uganda. He's a lawless warlord leading something called the Lord's Resistance Army ... Social

Tim Cornwell, The Scotsman, February 27, 2012 New forensic evidence claiming to destroy key pillars of the case against the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing will be revealed today. Forensic examination of a small fragment of circuit board, cited as critical evidence linking Libya to the atrocity that claimed 270 lives on 21 December, 1988, does not originate from the source identified by prosecutors, it is claimed. The new evidence is detailed in two documentaries on the case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, 59, screened today on BBC Scotland and the Al Jazeera network. ... Lockerbie

Marjorie Cohn, Common Dreams, January 31, 2012 "They ranged from little babies to adult males and females. I'll never be able to get that out of my head. I can still smell the blood. This left something in my head and heart." - Lance Corporal Roel Ryan Briones. Last week, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was sentenced to a reduction in rank but no jail time for leading his squad in a rampage known as “The Haditha Massacre.” Wuterich, who was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, pled guilty to dereliction of duty. Six other Marines have had their charges dismissed and another was acquitted for his part in the massacre. ... The

David Swanson, War Is A Crime, January 31, 2012 Imagine if a bunch of the craziest war-hungry Republicans in the House filmed themselves in a nutty bat-guano video packed with lies addressed to the President of the United States. And then imagine President Barack Obama almost immediately agreeing with them. I can think of two ways in which such a series of events could go unnoticed, as it just has. First, it could be about something insignificant. But this was about undoing the automatic cuts to the military mandated by the failure of the Supercommittee (remember, the top news story of a few months back?). ... A

James Clapper, US director of national intelligence, also says Tehran is keeping option open to develop nuclear weapons. Julian Borger, Guardian, January 31, 2012 America's top intelligence official has claimed that Iran's leadership was now more willing than before to carry out an attack inside the US, and that intelligence agencies were worried about plots against US and allied interests around the world. In a report to Congress, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said a plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador in a Washington restaurant - which the US blamed on Iran's Revolutionary Guard ... Iran

Do Not Say You Were Not Warned. Eileen Fleming, WeAreWideAwake, January 30, 2012 Last week The New York Times published an opine by Ronen Bergman, who answered his own question in “Will Israel Attack Iran?” “After speaking with many senior Israeli leaders and chiefs of the military and the intelligence, I have come to believe that Israel will indeed strike Iran in 2012. Perhaps in the small and ever-diminishing window that is left, the United States will choose to intervene after all, but here, from the Israeli perspective, there is not much hope for that. [O]nly the Israelis can ultimately defend themselves.” ... At

Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch, January 29, 2012 Exclusive: New Iranian Commando Team Operating Near US (Tehran, FNA) The Fars News Agency has confirmed with the Republican Guard’s North American Operations Command that a new elite Iranian commando team is operating in the US-Mexican border region. The primary day-to-day mission of the team, known as the Joint Special Operations Gulf of Mexico Task Force, or JSOG-MTF, is to mentor Mexican military units in the border areas in their war with the deadly drug cartels. ... Iranian

Ronen Bergman, New York Times, January 25, 2012 As the Sabbath evening approached on January 13, Ehud Barak paced the wide living-room floor of his home high above a street in north Tel Aviv, its walls lined with thousands of books on subjects ranging from philosophy and poetry to military strategy. Barak, the Israeli defense minister, is the most decorated soldier in the country’s history and one of its most experienced and controversial politicians. He has served as chief of the general staff for the Israel Defense Forces, interior minister, foreign minister and prime minister. He now faces ... the most important decision of his life - whether to launch a pre-emptive attack against Iran. ... Will